Alex (ziqing) Zhao
Hi, I am Alex (Kanhao) Zhao — some friends call me by my Chinese courtesy given name, Ziqing (子清). I am a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University specializing in computational neuroscience, neuroimaging, and integrative multi-omics approaches to brain health. My research integrates supervised and unsupervised machine learning, functional neuroimaging, microbiome sequencing, metabolomics, and wearable physiological signals (including ECG and other wearable sensor data) with large-scale clinical datasets (e.g., the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative and the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey) to investigate how modifiable risk factors — obesity, diet, and gut dysbiosis — contribute to accelerated brain aging, cognitive vulnerability, and psychiatric symptoms.
I develop multimodal frameworks that combine functional brain connectivity, cognitive and emotional phenotyping, microbiome profiles, and metabolomic signatures to uncover the biological mechanisms underlying early cognitive decline and neuropsychiatric disorders — including mental, neurodegenerative, neurodevelopmental, and substance use disorders. Through these approaches, I aim to identify personalized intervention strategies, including dietary modification, microbiome-targeted therapies, and metabolite-guided treatments, to mitigate obesity-related brain aging and reduce the risk of cognitive impairment, Alzheimer's disease, anxiety, and depression.
Beyond translational neuroscience, I develop machine learning and computational methods for biomarker discovery, disease prediction, and precision psychiatry. My recent work also explores autonomous AI research agents and self-improving computational systems for large-scale neuroimaging and multi-omics analysis. I serve as a peer reviewer for journals including Nature Mental Health, Medical Image Analysis, IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging, npj Digital Health, and Neuropsychopharmacology. Collaboration on any direction involving machine learning modeling for brain disorders is always welcome!!!
